Procedure can stop patients’ debilitating headaches

To treat a migraine, doctors at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System in Spartanburg, S.C., are going where they’ve never gone before.

By DUSTIN WYATT Halifax Media Group

To treat a migraine, doctors at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System in Spartanburg, S.C., are going where they’ve never gone before.

They are going up the nose with a nearly 3-inch catheter.

It’s a new treatment option that Dr. Richard Harp, an interventional radiologist, said is effective.

For “every case I’ve done, it (worked) immediately,” he said. “Patients will come in from work with a migraine, and the headache pain goes from a 10 to a 0, and they are right back to work.”

The catheter, called SphenoCath, is used to apply numbing medication directly to a cluster of difficult-to-reach nerves in the back of the nasal cavity. The procedure, known as an SPG block, was previously done with a long needle through the side of the head or up through the soft palate of the mouth.

These earlier methods “were not tolerated well by people,” Harp said. “It wasn’t very good, and the results were not very good either. This is a new twist on an established way to treat migraines. This is a perfect way to deliver that medicine.

“The catheter is inserted up the nostril; it’s very well-tolerated, it’s very soft, and it doesn’t hurt when it goes in,” he said.

The procedure only takes a few minutes, he said.

More than 28 million people suffer from migraines in the U.S., according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Women are affected more than men. They can vary in frequency — some people have them every day, while others might get them weekly or monthly. They can last for anywhere from four hours to three weeks. They are often so severe that people are forced to miss work or school when they occur.

Spartanburg Regional Medical Center is one of only a few hospitals in the state to offer the new technique.

Harp said he has performed it on about a dozen patients.

The procedure “doesn’t hurt,” Kelly Petty said.

Petty, one of the first patients to receive the treatment in Spartanburg, said she would get migraines once a month that would last for about a week. She would often have to miss work because of her pain.

Since she had the procedure done five months ago, she has been headachefree.

“I feel just fine,” she said recently.

Harp said it varies how long patients who undergo the procedure will be migraine-free.

“It’s not a cure; it won’t get rid of your migraines forever,” he said. “But once a migraine recurs, you can come back and have it done again. We believe it will last longer each time.”

Harp said the treatment is the right choice for anyone who has at least four migraines a year. It can not only help people who suffer from migraines and improve their quality of life, he said, but it can also help save money on medications.

Melissa Disch, who had the procedure, said she was taking medication, Relpax, four times a week to treat her daily migraines. She was paying about $300 for six pills that would get her through a week and a half. In addition to the cost, the pills had side effects, she said.

She said the SphenoCath takes the strain off her head as well as her bank account.

Harp said while the treatment isn’t inexpensive, it will save you money over time because you won’t have to take any medication.

“Think about how much money you save if you do this and block it for five months,” he said.